Combined side bearing and truck-alining device.



J. F. OCONNOR.

COMBINED SIDE BEARING AND TRUCK ALlNiNG DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-20. 1911.

1,290,319., Patented Ja11.7,1919.

r ig zgl (l lllllllll A v E 19 Q f4 WITNESSES: wmz' ggii tiruran s'TATEs PATENT or JOHN F. o'oomvoa, or (intense, rLLnvoIs ASSIGNOB. TO WILLIAM H. MINER, or

, GHAZY, new YORK.

COMBINED SIDEZBiEA-RIN'G AND TRUGK-ALINING DEVICE.

madam.

To'all whom it may canteen 1 Be it knownthat I J HN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ghicago, in the county of Cook and State of ltllinois, have invented a certain new an'd uselhul Im rovement in Combined Side Bear ing's and Truck-AimingDevices, of which the following is a fulhelear, concise. and ex act description, reference being hadto: the to accompanying drawings, forming a parrot this specificationi' This invention relates to improvements in 1 combined side bearing and truck alining device;

In the operation of railway cars, itiswell ltnown' that the flanges of thewheels on the trucks are: worn very rapidly wh'vh is due to the fact that the trucksi after they have been turned with respect to the car body when the car strikes a curved portion of a track,

tend to remain in their twisted or tur ned position In present constructions, so far as I i am aware, nomeans are provided for returning the. trucks to their normal position after the car has entered upon the-(straight portion I of the track with the result that the trucks are iiot brought into proper alinement except possibly by chance. V

The object of my invention is to provide efficient and simplemeans :Eorreturning the trucks of the car toproper position after the car enters upon the straight portion of a track after it has been runningover a curve a to thereby eliminate the wear of the wheel 1 flanges wh ch now occurs in present constructions tothereby increase the life of the wheelsand eiiect a large saving tothe railroads; 7 a y I p lln the drawing forming: part of this til specification, Fie'urel is a vertical, sectional view taken lengthwiseof car through the body and truck bolsters and showing my improvements in connection therewith. Fig, 2

is an elevational' view at right angles to the 415 sectional view illustrated in Fine 1 and 1 shows my improvements as applied between the body and truck bolsters of a car. Fig. 3 i

is a. horizontal, sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. And he Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective View of one ofthe spring followers.

In said drawing, 10 denotesaportion of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7,1919.

Application filed. August 20, 1917. Serial No. 187,294.

thehody bolster of a car and 11 a portion of a truck bolster which may be of any desired form. My improvements are shown as appliedbetwe'en the bolsters;v it being undering having its upper face, as indicated at 12,

inclined to correspond with the inclination of the under face of the body bolster and said casting: A is rigidly secured to said bolster by any suitable means such as the rivetsl3 passing". through flanges 14: provided on the casting. The lower face 15 ot the member A is arraliged horizontal and is provided with a recess 16 for the purpose hereinafter describedi i v The lower member B is in the" form of a hollow casting having' flanges 17 at the four corners thereof by which it is riveted to the truck bolsters. The member B has inner and outer upstanding parallel walls 18-18 and the end walls thereof are circularly recessed, asindicated at 1919, to accommodate the spring followers D-D. At its up er portion the casting B is provided with horizontal bearing flanges 20-20 withwhich slidably cooperate corresponding flanges 21-21 on the slide C. the latter having; an upper horizontal hearing; fa e 22 which is adapted to directly engage the under hearing surface 15 of the casting- A when the body of thecar swings to either side and causes the side hearings to come into play.

Each of the spring followers D is in the form of a hollow cylinder having an integral end wall 23 and an annular outturned flange 2-1 atits inner end. the flange 2e cooperating witlr a corresponding inturned 11211131625 on the end wall of the casting, B. In this way the outward movement of the followers D is limited, as will beobvious. The spring E is mounted within the casting B and its ends are extended within the spring followers D. s The slide C. at its ends, is provided with depending flanges 26-2.6, each of which has a short inturned stud 2 7 that seats within a corresponding perforation in the end wall 23 of the adjacent spring follower. On its upper surface and at the center, the slide C has an upwardly extending lug 28 which seats within the recess 16. The recess 16 and lug 28 are so designed that there is no relative movement between the lug and the casting tween the body and truck bolsters due to the swaying of the car body. This radial movement is permitted because of the shifting positions between the parts when the bolsters are swung with respect to each other.

In operation, when the bolsters approach upon the upper surface of the slide C, the two surfaces being normally separated. WVhen thus in engagement and as the bolsters swing with respect to each other when the car runs onto a curve, it is obvious that the slide C will travel in unison with the upper bolster and slide with respect to the lower casting B. As this action occurs, one of'the spring followers D will be moved toward the center of the casting B, thus compressing the spring E. In carrying out my invention, it is not intended that the capacity of the spring E shall be at all large or in any way suflicient to prevent the free and easy turninc: of the truck with respect to the car body when the car enters a curve. As the car enters a straight portion of the track. the truck will of course be returned to a position near normal but, unless some means are brought to bear to counteract it, the truck will remain in such a position that the flanges of the wheels will wear rapidly against the rails. As is well known, there is constant vibration of all the parts of a car when the same is running and I utilize this fact in carrying out my invention. lVhile the spring E would not of itself be of sufficient force to positively bring the truck to a proper normal position if a constant pressure were maintained etween the parts of a side bearing, nevertheless, due to the constant vibration of the parts and the swaying of the car'body there are short intervals oftime in which the pressure on the side bearing is "relieved and it is during these intervals that the spring E will act to bring the truck back to normal position, that is, with the axles at right angles to the rails and thus minimize the wheel flange wear. Not only will my device bring the truck back to its proper normal position, as above describ d, when the car enters a straight portion of track, but it will automatically serve to maintain the truck in such position.

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred embodiment of my invention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described. the combination with upper and lower bolsters of a car, of upper and lower eastings secured respectively to the upper and lower bolsters, a slidable member interposed between said castings, said slide member being movable in unison at all times with one of said ca tings and slidable with respect to the oth r. and a snrinq interposed between the relatively slidable members whereby, after the two bolsters have been moved radially with respect to each other I the spring will return the parts to normal each other, the bearing surface '15 Wlll seat position.

2. In a device of the character described, the comb nation with a casting adapted to *be secured to a truck bolster, of a plate slidof a truck bolster having an opposed casting secured to its upper face, a slide interposed between said castings, said slide being movable with respect to the casting on the truck bolster, a spring interposed between said slide and the last named casting, and a relatively rigid connection between said slide and the upper casting.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casting adapted to be rigidly secured to a bolster of a car, of a second casting adapted to be rigidly secured to an opposed bolster of the car, a plate interposed between said castings, said plate being slidable with respect to one of the castings, a pin and slot connection between said plate and the other of said castings, said pin and slot connection being so arranged that the plate moves horizontally in unison with the corresponding casting but is independently movable vertically with respect thereto, and spring means interposed between said plate and the casting with which it is slidably associated.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with the body and truck bolsters of a car, of a casting rigidly secured to the truck bolster, a plate slidably mounted on said casting, spring means interposed bethe plate and said casting but at the same tween said plate and said casting adapted time making said casting and said plate to yieldingly resist relative movement theremovable horizontally in unison at all times. 10 betweeit. a, casting secured to the body bol- In Witness that .1 claim the foregoing I 5 ster, and means connecting said plate With have hereunto subscribed my name this 4th the casting on the body bolster so arranged as: day of Aug, 1917. to permit relative vertical movement between J OHN F. OCONNOR.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

